Introduction

In the larger narrative of colonialism and its exploitative history, we generally ignore or give less attention to the micro-strategies employed in the ever-changing and dynamic relationship between the colonized and the colonizer. There is a significant difference in the nature of political authority as well as in the narratives as documented in archives and records, when the political sovereignty is still in the period of contestation as compared to when it has been fully established. This chapter basically deals with the question of historical agency and the dynamic nature of narratives in general and have tried to contextualize it by arguing for its relevance in the study of Naga hills in the north-eastern parts of India.